Kim Kardashian is opening up about how she handles her ex-husband Kanye West’s very public “psychotic breaks.”
The reality star, 46, details the highs and lows of her 10-year relationship with the rapper in journalist Jonathan Van Meter’s new book, Citizen Kim: The Woman Who Created the Future, which includes interviews with Kim and her inner circle from 2018-2026.
Kim and Ye tied the knot in 2013 after two years of dating, welcomed four children together, but ultimately divorced in 2021. The divorce was partly due to the difficulties of Ye’s bipolar disorder, which he got diagnosed with in 2016. In the new book, whose excerpts were obtained via US Weekly, Kim admits that she coped by “sweeping it away, under the carpet,” which would cause her to feel equally “guilty” and “embarrassed.”
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“Because certain things were said during psychotic breaks,” Kim explains, “and I just wanted to protect him. I don’t want anyone to know about this.”
But when it got to a point where her mental health and safety were being affected, Kim realised “I gotta save myself” first.
But even after their 2021 divorce, Kim admits she was rooting for her ex. “I really just want him to win, I want him to shine, and I don’t like it when he doesn’t look good.”
She adds, “I didn’t expect this to be easy, but I didn’t expect it to be so public. I thought he was cooler than that. Like, what are you doing? And that makes me sad for him. Because I’m just like, ‘Come on, dude. Get it together.’”
To Ye’s credit, though, Kim says he never allowed their kids to get affected by his mental health. “That was such a blessing. He would have a full episode, and the kids would never know because they would be almost a calming presence for him.”
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Although the pair have long moved on, Kim can’t help but “worry” about Kanye. “I worry about [Kanye] all day. All the time. That’s the father of my kids, I’ll never not worry about him.”
For the most part, however, things have been “pretty smooth for a while” when it comes to co-parenting their children — North, 13, Saint, 10, Chicago, 8, and Psalm, 7. “I guess because we don’t talk that much. But when we see each other, we give each other a hug,” she noted, adding that she remains close with his family and has an “open-door policy” for them for the sake of the kids.
As for Ye’s public meltdowns — the most recent one being his “antisemitic” rants and songs last year — Kim notes, “He always seems to pick himself up… and out of something, but it does make me so sad. And I don’t think it’s going to get better. I pray it does. For my kids.”
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